In order for a chemical to weaken the slide it would have to penetrate into the center of the metal - thats not going to happen with Bill's idea, its not the same as liquid nitrogen or extreme heat, its not going to change the inner molecular structure of metal.

Even if Bill's technique is striping or "etching" away an outer layer, it could only be measured in ten-thousants of an inch or micrometers.
And that sort of thing is sometimes done prior to hard chroming and other coating processes.